Shirt hold-down device



June 27, 1939. R. A. ZIEGLER ET. AL 2,163,654

' SHIRT HOLD-DOWN DEVICE Filed Aug. 16, 1938 1814x226 A. Z 61920;Frarzl: firyaswz, TMM M J72 were tars:

Attjs. I

Patented June 27,1939

UNITED STATES PATENT or'rlcs snm'r HOLD-DOWN navlon ration of New YorkApplication August 18. 1938. Serial No. 225.094

1 Claim.

This invention relates'to men's shirts of the so-called coat type whichopen down theiront with inner and outer overlapping portions securedtogether, usually by buttons on the outer,

5 side of the inner portion and corresponding button holes in the outerportion. 1 I

When wearing a shirt of this type the overlapping portions tend to bunchupwardly and gape apart between the buttons, due to changes in 10 theposition and posture of the wearer. Heretofore it has been proposed toavoid this tendency by securing to theshirt, just above the waist line,

an anchor adapted to engage over a button on a nether garment, therebyto restrain the front 15 of the shirt from bunching upwardly. However,such constructions have certain disadvantages. For example, inasmuch asthey are fast to the shirts they render the shirts more dimcult tolaunder, and they are not applicable to nether M garments withoutbuttons, such as trunks with elastic tops and zipper trousers.

Objects of the present invention "are to restrain the aforesaidtendency, to keep the aforesaid overlapping portions substantially incontact with :5 each other, from the waist line to the neck, throughoutchanges in position and posture, to avoid the permanent attachment of ananchor to the shirt, to provide an anchor which may be attached to anether garmenthaving no buttons,

80 to provide detachable means for the aforesaid purpose which can beused interchangeably on diflerent shirts, and generally to improve theart to which the presentinvention relates.

' According to this invention the shirt is pro- 35 vided with an openingin one of its overlapping portions in the region of the waist line andan anchor is xtended through this opening with its lower en engagingwith the fabric of a nether garment and its upper end detachably engaged40 over a button on the inner portion of the shirt between the inner andouter overlapping portions, thereby to restrain the front of the shirtfrom bunching upwardly. The anchor is preferably formed of a strip ofelastic material having a 45 width equal to or somewhat less than thatof the aforesaid opening. The fastener on the lower end of the elasticstrip may be of any suitable type for engaging the fabric of shorts orthe lining of trousers but it is preferably formed of 50 stifl sheetmaterial having a tapered opening into which the fabric may be insertedand wedged. The upper end of the elastic strip is also preferablyprovided with'a separate fastener of stiff sheet material provided withan opening large enough to receive the button'of the shirt andpreferablyprovided with a narrow slot lead- Xing upwardly from theopening to receive the anchor for holding the button on the shirt.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention isshown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front view of ashirt and anchor associated together in operative relationship, togetherwith trunks to which the lower end of the anchor is connected;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the anchor detached from the shirt; v

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lower end of the anchor illustratinghow it is attached to the nether garment; and

Fig. 4 is a frontview of a modified lower fastener.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration comprises a shirt having inner and outer overlappingportions I and 2 providedwith the usual buttons 3 and button holes 4.Between the waist line and the next higher button and button hole, theinner and outer overlapping portions are provided with openings 5 and 8.

The aforesaid anchor comprises a strip of elastic material 1 withfasteners B and 9 secured to its upper and lower ends respectively. Thefastener 8 is provided with an opening iii to receive the button 3 and aslot ii extending upwardly so from the opening iii to receive thestitching with which the button is secured to the shirt. The lowerfastener 9 isprovided with an opening i2 tapering downwardly, wherebyfabric may be anchored in the opening by inserting a small area of thefabric through the opening and then pulling the' fastener upwardly untilthe fabric wedges into the lower end of the opening. As illustrated inFig. 3 the fastener is anchored to a pair of shorts i3 having an elastictop H. The 40 upper end of the opening i2 may if desired be shapedlikethe opening iii to receive a button so that the lower fastener 9 may beattached either to a button or as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Such aconstruction is shown in Fig. 4 where the lower fastener is designated9' and the opening The preferred method of applying the anchor is firstto engage the fastener 8 over the button '3, then insert the fastener 9through the opening 5 and then interengage the fastener 9 with thefabric of the shorts i3. after which the outer portion of the shirt isbuttoned over the inner portion in the usual way. Tocon'nect the anchorto the trousers instead of trunks the lower end of the anchor isinserted through the opening 6 instead of the opening 5. Thus the sameanchoring device may be used with a number of shirts and it may be usedwith trunks and trousers which have no buttons and it may be removedwhile the shirt is being laundered, thereby facilitating the launderingoperation and increasing the life of the anchoring device.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and .that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

In combination with a shirt having inner and outer overlapping frontportions provided with interengaging buttons and button holes respectionfrom bunching upwardly in various positions of the wearer without anypart of said anchor showing outside the shirt when said portions arebuttoned together.

RUSSELL A. ZIEGLER. FRANK FERGUSON.

